Dynaudio DBM50 - active monitors

Not my regular cup of tea

I'm continuing my investigation of active speakers, after sampling
offerings from Hypex and sE, and a name that keeps coming up is
Dynaudio. I still own a pair of Dynaudio Contour 1.8 mk2 speakers,
which I've always liked very much, so I certainly know the company,
and I was wondering what Dynaudio could do with an active system. I
really wanted to try the BM6A MKII monitors, but Dynaudio preferred me
to review the new DBM50 desktop speakers. On paper they didn't look
that different, and the DBM50's seems to have been received very well
indeed, so I agreed.

The DBM50 speakers are actually designed for use on a mixing desk and
not for use on a stand. They are also rated for near field and not
medium to far field as is the case in most normal listening rooms.
This might seem like a strange choice, but the guys at Dynaudio should
know what they're doing, I suppose. It turns out that they were sort
of right, but I still suspect the design might work better on a desk.
When put on a stand the speakers will clearly point up too much. The
sound is OK-ish and it doesn't look too bad, but I still thought it
wasn't the best way to use them. I ended up putting soft juggling
balls underneath each speaker, enabling them to sit upright and be
aimed straight at the listener. This sounded better, but looked rather
weird, and wasn’t completely stable, so it isn't something I can
recommend, to be honest. I have to add that the recommendation that
Dynaudio gives in the user manual is to point the speakers straight at
the listener, so acoustically this should be best.

The speakers contain 2 amps of 50 watt each per cabinet, and a DSP
based crossover. You might now expect that they would also have a
digital input, but they don't. The DSP is used as a replacement for an
electronic crossover, and not to enable any added functionality, it
seems. The back does show all the controls you'd expect on a speaker
like this: 3 sensitivity settings, bass and treble adjustment, a high
pass filter (60 and 80Hz) for use with a sub, and an additional
mid-range filter to compensate for the effect of placing the speaker
on a larger surface, like a desk. The speakers are ported at the back
and feature both XLR as well as RCA input connectors. The bass driver
is 18cm, so decent bass could be possible.

Build quality is fine, but they don't come with a wood finish, like
most domestic speakers, making them look a little bit boring, I
suppose. The look is just about saved by the darker side panels and
the white speaker surrounds. They were very easy to install and didn't
give me any trouble at all. I used them with everything set flat
initially. Signals were provided by my Astin Trew At3500+ CD player
and my Django transformer preamp, which all seemed to work very well.

The Sound

First impressions were fine. This is a punchy and lively sounding
speaker with a healthy amount of bass. It can certainly play loud
enough and seems to be coping well with being used as an ordinary
living room loudspeaker. Obviously, when I put them on stands as they
are, they are pointing towards the ceiling, but my trick with the
juggling balls (see photo) solved that, and when used this way they
perform normally and actually produce a decent soundstage.

When playing pop, rock and big orchestral jazz and classical music,
these monitors are quite impressive, especially for their price and
size. Bass is strong and punchy, resolution is fine and they display
all the usual active speaker advantages like tight bass, good clarity,
good focus, and excellent dynamic expression. What also caught my ear
is that they seem to be particularly good at adding a bit of body to
voices and instruments. Saxophones have a satisfyingly full and
weighty sound, for example. So far, so good.

I even played around a bit with the settings and ended up sometimes
preferring the +2dB setting for the bass for certain recordings, at
least at lower volumes. The added bass gives the sound even more
weight and impact, but at higher levels, or with recordings that have
stronger bass, it can become a bit overpowering. Still, it is nice to
have the option of turning it up or down.

I was a little bit disappointed when I started to play smaller scale
jazz and life classical recordings. My own Munro Egg loudspeakers
excel at this, and are able to recreate the acoustics of the recording
space in a quite convincing way. In comparison, the Dynaudios lacked
refinement and sounded a bit grainy and rough. For some reason, most
of the low level fine detail was lost. When I played well recorded
jazz, like most ECM releases, the magic that my Eggs can produce was
completely gone with the Dynaudios, and performances sounded
indifferent and even mechanical. Every feeling of tension in quieter
bits was lost. Sadly, this makes listening to anything a bit more
subtle quite unrewarding.

I cannot help thinking that this has something to do with the DSP
crossover, but I can't really be sure of this. Whatever is going on,
there's something in the electronics that makes these speakers sound
grainy and unable to reproduce fine, low level detail. For me that
disqualifies them as audiophile loudspeakers.

Conclusion

This speaker is intended to be used on a desk and is therefore less at
home on a pair of stands. Although this is a reasonably good sounding
speaker, I was slightly disappointed by the lack of refinement. If you
mostly play pop or rock then this is as good a small speaker as you
are likely to find in this price range, passive systems included, but
if you like a bit of jazz and classical then they are not very
rewarding and better alternatives can be found.
The bottom line is that this is simply not an audiophile loudspeaker. That is not to say
that it couldn't be an excellent monitor, but for home use I'd recommend against it.